HERE AND THERE, NOW AND THEN

FOR RELEASE: June, 2015

Heights Arts presents interactive arts exhibition in collaboration with Mandel JCC

Cleveland Heights, OH: Where did we come from? It’s one of the perennial questions that we ask as children, then again as adults seeking to understand our past. Here and There, Now and Then is a collaborative, community arts project between Heights Art, Lake Erie Ink, and the Mandel Jewish Community Center which addresses this question by gathering written and visual stories about how people got to Cleveland: where their parents and grandparents started out, and what brought them from that place, then, to this place, now. The community project and exhibition opens Monday, June 15 at the Mandel JCC and runs through Sunday, August 2.

A Heights Arts facilitator and staff from Lake Erie Ink began working with community and school groups in May. “We have created many offsite art projects before—such as Fencepiration and Knitscape—and we are thrilled to give people an opportunity to creatively explore their heritage,” says Rachel Bernstein, Heights Arts executive director.

The Northeast Ohio community is invited to contribute to Here and There, Now and Then either individually, or through group art & writing workshops. Storytelling and illustration (creative writing, poetry, prose, and drawing in a variety of mediums) will be created in response to writing and visual prompts, then displayed on exhibition panels at  Mandel JCC. Corresponding  pins will be placed on exhibition maps to indicate where each participant’s family/work originated. Written and visual stories from the exhibition will also be compiled into book format at the end of summer.

Individuals can contribute art or writing to Here and There, Now and Then by picking up a participation form at Heights Arts, 2175 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights, at the Mandel JCC, 26001 S Woodland Rd, Beachwood, or by downloading a form at www.heightsarts.org. Free art & writing workshops may be scheduled for community and school groups, age 3+, by contacting  Heights Arts at 216-371-3457.

Here and There, Now and Then opens Monday, June 15 with a community workshop from 5-8 p.m. at the Mandel JCC. A closing reception  will be held Sunday, August 2, 5-8 p.m.

Support for Here and There, Now and Then is provided by a grant from the Mandel Foundation.

Heights Arts is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program/organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

 

Contact: Mary Ryan

mryan@heightsarts.org

216-371-3457